Washington: CPL Permit Confidentiality Bill Introduced

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Support NRA-ILA

Last week, Washington legislators introduced an NRA-backed bill to protect the private, personal information of Washington's concealed pistol license holders from public records requests. Senate Bill 6173, sponsored by Senator Dean Takko (D-19), and House Bill 2329, sponsored by Representative Jim Walsh (R-19), would add clarifying language to Washington’s existing Public Records Act to ensure that concealed pistol licenses, along with any supporting documentation, are exempt from public disclosure. This proposal remains consistent with the existing law's protection of records that contain individual, personal information- just as library cards and bus pass user information is also protected.

As previously reported, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is currently conducting a legal review of whether the private, personal information of Washington’s Concealed Pistol License holders is subject to public disclosure. Your NRA submitted comments to the Washington Attorney General’s office in support of protecting CPL holders’ information, and will be advocating for SB 6173/HB 2329 throughout the 2018 legislative session to ensure this private information is protected.

Currently, Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA) and carry licensing law exempts from public disclosure all concealed pistol license applications and the information on applications, except as needed by law enforcement or corrections. The legislative intent of this exemption, along with other constitutional privacy concerns, mandates that CPL licenses should be protected in the same manner as applications since they also contain personally identifying information such as names and addresses.

Washington State already protects a wide variety of personally identifying information regarding other participants in government services and programs – such as public utility customers, patrons of public libraries, transit pass users, ride-sharing program participants, and many others. The privacy interests of CPL holders logically and reasonably align with these other protected classes.

Even states with otherwise restrictive firearm laws such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York State protect licensee information from public disclosure, recognizing the public safety concerns of releasing this private information. In addition to releasing the confidential, personally identifying information of law-abiding permit holders who simply wish to protect themselves, this information, if publicly released, would likely include the names and addresses of current and former law enforcement, judges, undercover officers, private investigators, victims of domestic violence and individuals with no-contact order or orders of protection.

Please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates on this issue and other measures impacting your Second Amendment rights in the Evergreen State.

Yesterday, NRA filed a legal challenge in the Thurston County Superior Court objecting to the misleading and inadequate ballot title for Initiative 1639, which seeks to further restrict the Second Amendment rights of Washington's law-abiding citizens. The Thurston ...

On May 23rd, the Massachusetts state House of Representatives will be voting on House Bill 4517, which would allow firearms to be seized from individuals following baseless accusations without proper due process.

On May 23rd, the Illinois state House of Representatives voted 80-32 to pass House Amendment 2 to House Bill 2354 to allow Second Amendment rights to be revoked without due process. HA 2 to HB 2354 now ...

We have recently been reporting on the bizarre anti-gun activism of one of the nation’s larger firearm retailers, Dick’s Sporting Goods and its affiliated Field & Stream stores. First, the company announced it would stop selling most centerfire semi-automatic ...

You likely recall we mentioned a new anti-gun organization recently formed, which was billed as the brainchild of actress Alyssa Milano. You may also recall that we reported her group, NoRA, had made the vaguely threatening proclamation, ...

The headline of the USA Today op-ed said it all. Anti-gun Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) last week advocated for legislation to ban an as-yet undetermined class of semi-automatic firearms and to “go after resisters” who refuse to relinquish their ...

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.